This blog is looking for wisdom, to have and to share. it is also looking for other rare character traits like good humor, courage, and honor. It is not an easy road, because all of us fall short. But God is love, forgiveness and grace. Those who believe in Him and repent of their sins have the promise of His Holy Spirit to guide us and show us the Way.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Colleen says I should blog about our experience today. We closed on our loan and will be moving to the new place tonight through Tuesday.

During a lull in the real estate closing proceedings, our realtor said Bush's efforts to pass an "immigration bill" was the first good thing he has done since he has been president. I countered rapidly that failing to secure the borders may be the worst thing he has done since being elected President.

The realtor then went into a Bush Derangement Syndrone meltdown. It went something like this. Because George Bush is an avowed follower of Jesus Christ, he is purposely trying to use his position to create Armageddon, the return of the Messiah, and ensure Bush's place of prominence in Heaven. It is Bush's fault that Ahmadinejad wants to destroy Israel. It is Bush's fault that Al Qaeda is in Iraq. The thing that really pisses him off is that Bush is a believer who talks about his faith in Jesus Christ!

All of this coming from a very smart, very successful American businessman. Having seen a Habit For Humanity sticker in the front window of his house, I decided to attack Jimmy Carter. I called him a virulent anti-Semetic on the payroll of the Arab oil princes. He countered that Bush saw to it that all of the members of bin Laden's family got safe passage back to Saudi Arabia soon after 9-11. I said maybe all of us little people need to know as much as possible about what goes on in Washington D.C., so we can make good choices when we go to the ballot box.

What sticks in my craw is his anti-Christian bias. He said not a word agaisnt the Jihadists, who would not hesitate to blow him to bits. It is safe to criticize Christians. Surely he must know we are Christians. Why else would we have a house full of orphans and former orphans? Does he think we just like poop? When he said that Bush just wanted to ensure a good place in Heaven for himself, Colleen right away countered with "He who is first in this earthly life, shall be last in Heaven." I'm not sure if that is an accurate quote, but any Christian, including George W. Bush, knows what Jesus was talking about, because it is the very essence of Christianity to place the Kingdom of God above any earthly treasures.

And another thing! Probably the best thing Bush has done, besides going after the terrorists, is to cut taxes, so that our economy could recover from the recession he inherited from Bill Clinton. Remember the double digit inflation of the Carter years? Let's not lose perspective about George Bush, just because we are disappointed that he has failed to secure our borders. He has done some good things. After the Clinton years, having a man of faith and moral convictions in the White House has been a wonderful improvement.

Update:Invincible Armor links to a post that lists many things that George Bush has accomplished, that we should not forget in our current state of disappointment in him..

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Who are the Senators who deserve special praise for their work in opposing the amnesty bill? Senator John Cornyn, Senator Jim DeMint, Senator Jim Inhofe, Senator Jeff Sessions, Senator David Vitter, and Senator John Thune. Who are the Republicans who showed that they really had more in common with Democrats? Bennett, Craig, Graham, Gregg, Hagel, Kyl, Lott, Lugar, Martinez, McCain, Snowe, and Specter.

According to Ramesh Ponnuru at The Corner, the House voted 309-115 for a Mike Pence amendment barring the FCC from imposing it. What a day this has been in the United States Senate and House of Representatives! Of course, the Clintons and Kerrys will keep trying. They have got to find a way to stop all of us unwashed slobs from expressing our views about issues being legislated in Washington D.C. Power to the People!

Ace has an interesting map of the U.S., showing how the senators voted. It is shaded yellow if a split vote, blue for two amnesty votes, red for two votes for the sovereignty of America. Except for blue states California and Washington, the west and upper midwest were yellow. Except for Arkansas, Mississippi, and South Carolina (yellow states), and blue state Florida, the south was solidly red, creeping all the way up into Ohio! Ace's coverage of this whole battle has been a joy to read.

Celebrate! The bill is dead. The rule of law is upheld! Let us not forget those who tried to sell out our country: Graham, Lott, numerous Democrats, including Salazar from Colorado, and the man who says he wants to protect America, but fails to secure our borders, George W. Bush.

In order to stay abreast of enemy tactics, I have the New York Times as my home page. Today is one of the most publicly engaged, exciting days in the U.S. Senate since Watergate. Yet, there is not one word on the NYT front page about the unfolding events in the Senate on illegal immigration. That must be a sign that our guys are going to win!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Gayle, over at the Dragon Lady's Den, has a remarkable video about a retired televison station owner, who now spends his time as an inventer. He has been working on a cure for cancer, but stumbled on something that might be just as revolutionary: the ability to use saltwater as a fuel!

It seems to me that there is an irony in the debate over the amnesty proposals for illegal immigrants. Most people who are legally trying to come to America are doing so precisely because we are a country in which the rule of law prevails, and they are coming from countries where that is not the case! The irony is that now these people who are patiently awaiting their opportunity in America are watching, on the one hand, a political party that is blatantly looking for new votes, and on the other hand a political party that has a sizable number of senators who are doing the bidding of big corporations who want cheap labor, and too few of these legislators seem to be concerned about the importance of the rule of law or the sovereignty of our nation!

Listening to these politicians dance around in interviews is amazing. I just heard Sean Hannity interview the pitiful Senator Voinovich from Ohio. Ohioans, you can do much better!

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Tonight I had to make a run to the supermarket. I bring my items up to the checkout counter, and there they are: Angelina Jolie, Brittany Spears, Linsey Lohan, and Paris Hilton. I snapped! I asked to speak to the manager. I told her I have had it up to here with having those skanks thrust in front of me every time I come up to pay for my groceries. She told me that the tabloids pay big bucks to the corporations that operate the supermarkets. The big bucks are for a position that hits you right in the face while you wait for the persons ahead of you to check out.

If we started a nationwide picket line, though, what would we want them to put in place of the Globe and Cosmo? Time? Newsweak? The New York Times? At least during the O.J. trial the Natioal Enquirer kept coming up with facts that later made it into the MSM. And, if memory serves, during Watergate the same thing happened. Okay, we'll let National Enquirer stay, but get rid of all the others!

Monday, June 25, 2007

Breitbart reports that Iranian helicopters have been spotted in Southern Iraq. Ace of Spades wonders whether President Bush can take time out from arm-twisting senators to pay attention to these aggressive moves by Iran.

Were you aware that black people in America have been victimized by the medical community by having things done to them without their consent? Or not done to them when effective medical solutions were available? Nancy Reyes gives the details here.

Talk radio is all abuzz about the Clintons and other Democrats trying to revive the "Fairness" Doctrine. That would mean that instead of market forces driving talk radio, hosts would be required to balance every view with equal time given to an opposing view. Dianne Feinstein became the first Senator to endorse the idea. She, of course, was criticized by talk radio when it was exposed that her husband was profiting from her position of influence over defense spending.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Don't like America? Maybe you would prefer Zimbabwe, which used to be a major exporter of agricultural products. Now, under dictator Robert Mugabe, over four million people have been forced to flee the country. While fleeing, you can either be eaten by lions or crocodiles as you try to cross the Limpopo river to go into South Africa, where you are unlikely to find a job and likely to be abused. Read more here by courageous freedom fighter Mfundo Mlilo.

Did you know that the Spanish Inquisition, carried out over three centuries, killed as many people as Soviet communism killed in an average day? Did you know that President Bush dedicated a memorial to the Victims of Communism on June 12 in Washington? One million dollars, mostly from Vietnamese, was raised to build the memorial. That is about one cent for every person killed by an evil ideology that still controls one-fifth of the world's population!

The figure of one million victims only counts actual deaths. Tens of millions more, who will never be counted, had their spirits crushed, their minds numbed, their bodies destroyed by communism. Many Christians have taken up the cause of illegal immigrants coming to America from Mexico. But, do you hear those same Christians saying anything about Christians being killed or imprisoned in communist China or Cuba?

Did you know that the banning of DDT probably caused twenty million child deaths from malaria? Read about it here in the latest issue of National Geographic.Via Finestkind Clinic and fish marketColor-synthesizing scanning electron microscope image by David Scharf

Mark Steyn writes devastatingly here about the mistakes we in the west have made in dealing with the Islamic killers.

Topical Take Thursday, 21 June 2007 It's slightly depressing to read that Her Majesty's Government were entirely taken aback by the hostile Muslim reaction to their decision to knight Salman Rushdie. One assumed they had factored into their calculations at least a bit of pro forma Death-to-the-Great-Satan prancing in the livelier quartiers of Pakistan - or even, with classic Brit cynicism, figured that enraging hundreds of millions of Muslims over an imperial bauble was a cheap way to look courageous and tough and determined after the recent humiliations inflicted on the Royal Navy. But no: the whole burning-effigies-of-the-Queen routine took them completely by surprise. It really is impossible to exaggerate the depths of self-delusion within which the multiculti bien pensants exist. With characteristic clumsiness, Margaret Beckett, the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, managed to make things worse. As The Sydney Morning Herald reported:

"Obviously we are sorry if there are people who have taken very much to heart this honour, which is after all for a lifelong body of literary work," she said, after protests in the Muslim world over the award.

She stressed that Rushdie was just one of many Muslims who had been recognised by the British honours system - something she said "may not be realised by many of those who have been vocal in their opposition.

"People who are members of the Muslim faith are very much part of our whole, wider community ... they receive honours in this country in just the same way as any other citizen."

Er, yes, but Sir Salman does not, I believe, consider himself a Muslim. (Certainly, the last time I saw him, he was enjoying an alcoholic beverage.) So, locked into the usual identity-groupthink, Mrs Beckett has, in effect, repositioned Rushdie within the group that wants to kill him. Thanks a bundle. Few of us understood the full implications of the fatwa 18 years ago, but, if even ministers of the Crown can't get it in 2007, then we really have learned nothing. This is from Mark Steyn From Head To Toe:

I was reading a Salman Rushdie column the other day and, not for the first time, agreeing with 95 per cent of it. In fact, I agree with him so often these days I’ve almost stopped noticing it.

But not quite. Far away at the back of my mind, I still remember the Rushdie of the 1980s - reflexively leftist, anti-Thatcher, the works. The old line – a neoconservative is a liberal who’s been mugged - goes tenfold for him. He’s not just a liberal mugged by reality; he’s a liberal whom reality has spent the last 13 years trying to kill. I still have difficulties with his novels, not least the one that got him into all the trouble, but in his columns and essays he has outgrown his illusions.

At the time – Valentine’s Day 1989 - most of us in Britain and the West didn’t appreciate the significance of the event. It marked the first time the Ayatollah Khomeini had claimed explicitly extraterritorial authority. Why he chose an obscure and for most of us unreadable English novel for his expeditionary foray is unclear, but the results must have heartened him tremendously.

Rushdie had not set out to offend Muslims. None of the London reviewers found anything controversial in the book. When British Muslims and their co-religionists around the world burnt copies of The Satanic Verses in the streets, BBC arts bores held innumerable discussions on the awful “symbolism” of this assault on “ideas.”

But it wasn’t symbolic at all. They burned the book because nothing else was at hand. If his wife and kid had swung by, they’d have gladly burned them instead. Overseas, they made do with translators and publishers. Rushdie’s precious lit. crit. crowd mostly opposed the fatwa on the grounds of artistic freedom rather than as a broader defence of Western pluralism. That was a mistake.

In the Fifties and Sixties, Nasserism attempted to import Soviet socialism to the Middle East. It never really took. A generation later, the Ayatollah came up with a better wheeze: Export Islamism to a culturally defeatist West. Everything that has become pathetically familiar to us since September 11th was present in the Rushdie affair.

First, the silence of the “moderate Muslims”: A few Islamic scholars pointed out that the Ayatollah had no authority to issue the fatwa; they quickly shut up when the consequences of not doing so became apparent.

Second, the squeamishness of the establishment: Rushdie was infuriated when the Archbishop of Canterbury lapsed into root-cause mode. “I well understand the devout Muslims’ reaction, wounded by what they hold most dear and would themselves die for,” said His Grace.

Rushdie replied tersely, “There is only one person around here who is in any danger of dying.”Roy Hattersley, the Labour Party’s deputy leader, attempted to split the difference by arguing that, while he of course supported freedom of speech, perhaps “in the interests of race relations” it would be better not to bring out a paperback edition. He was in favour of artistic freedom, but only in hard covers - and certainly, when it comes to soft spines, Lord Hattersley knows whereof he speaks.

Gerald Kaufman, a Jewish MP who has since gone on to disown Israel all but totally, attacked critics of British Muslims: “What I cannot accept is the implication that it is somehow anti-democratic and un-British for Mr Rushdie’s writings to be the object of criticism on religious, as distinct from literary, grounds.”

Kaufman said this a few days after large numbers of British Muslims had marched through English cities openly calling for Rushdie to be killed. In the last few months, several readers have e-mailed me with their memories of those marches. One man in Bradford recalls asking a West Yorkshire police officer why the “Muslim community leaders” weren’t being arrested for incitement to murder. The officer said they’d been told to play it cool. The cries for blood got more raucous. My correspondent asked his question again. The police officer told him to “fuck off, or I’ll arrest you.”

And, most important of all, the Rushdie affair should have taught us that there’s nothing to negotiate. Mohammed Siddiqui wrote to The Independent from a Yorkshire mosque to endorse the fatwa by citing Sura 5 verses 33-34:

The punishment of those who wage war against God and His Apostle, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land, is execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the hereafter. Except for those who repent before they fall into your power. In that case know that God is oft-forgiving, most merciful.

Rushdie seems to have got the wrong end of the stick on this. He suddenly turned up on a Muslim radio station in West London one night and told his interviewer he’d converted to Islam. Marvellous religion, couldn’t be happier, praise be to Allah and all that.

The Ayatollah said terrific, now you won’t suffer such heavy punishment in the hereafter. But we’re still gonna kill you.

As bad as the fatwa was, the inability of the establishment coherently to defend western values was worse. Clifford Longley, the Religious Affairs Correspondent of The Times, was one of the few to understand what was at stake. The British government must surely know, he wrote, that some Muslim beliefs, “at least at face value, are not compatible with a plural society: Islam does not know how to exist as a minority culture. For it is not just a set of private individual principles and beliefs. Islam is a social creed above all, a radically different way of organizing society as a whole.”

Longley wanted anyone parading a “Death To Rushdie” placard to be “taken at his word and arrested for incitement to murder. The immediate consequences could be unpleasant, even including the risk of riot. But the painful shock of such a confrontation may regrettably be necessary before the British Muslim community is brought face to face with the reality that tolerance and compromise, even over fundamentals, are a fundamental requirement of life in Britain.” Instead, all those British Muslims who called openly for Rushdie’s death are still around, more powerful and with more followers.

Her Majesty’s Government lacked the will then, as most of the West does today. In effect, the Ayatollah was allowed to get away with annexing Islam for political purposes, not just at home but internationally. If “moderate Muslims” are a viable demographic at all, they face a choice: They can follow the murder-inciters of Bradford, the suicide-bombers of the West Bank and the depraved killers of northern Nigeria on their descent into barbarism. Or they can wake up and save their religion. Either way, the West will be little use.from Mark Steyn From Head To Toe

Blogger Greg Gutfeld gets right to the "Gut" of things at his Daily Gut blog. Here is one of his latest provocative posts.

At the Campaign for America's Future "Take Back America" news conference this week, no one uttered the word "liberal." Instead, they used "progressive." Weird. Are progressives taking over the left? Or are liberals these days refusing to define themselves as liberal? It is, after all, a term that scares children, the elderly and anyone else who remembers Jimmy Carter.

Progressive, it is then.

Some advocates will explain, probably in between bites of organic rice cakes, that progressivism is a broader way of thinking - an orientation that rises above the usual right vs. left dynamic. The adjectives used sound positively delightful: "advanced," "pioneering," and "free-thinking!"

It's those words, no doubt, that will lure a grad student into bed. Of course, you'll get crabs, but it'll be worth it - even microorganisms deserve a chance for social justice!

Victor Davis Hansen once again makes important points; this time he writes about the hypocrisy that is undermining civilization. The hypocrisy of the Mexican government, the hypocrisy of terrorists in the Middle East, and hypocrisy of millions of Muslims who migrate to Europe or America and then want to impose Sharia law.

The New York Times today has a story that is supposed to help us understand the roots of President Bush's affection for immigrants from Mexico. I believe that affection has clouded his understanding of today's illegal immigration realities in this post 9-11 world. His stubborn refusal to secure the border has permitted unknown numbers of terrorists and criminals to sneak in, along with the many otherwise good people who, nevertheless, began their lives in America by breaking our laws, as they snuck into our country illegally.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Overheard at the Cedar County Democrats tent in Tipton, Iowa: John Edwards' nine-year-old daughter was asked by her mother which presidential candidate she prefers. Her answer? Hillary! Courtesy of the Editor of the West Branch, Iowa Times. Via Yeah, Right, Whatever and The Drudge Report

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Today was graduation day at the horse-riding camp. Five-year-old son got a trophy for Most Improved and seven-year-old son got two blue ribbons and a pink ribbon. I was particularly proud that five-year-old son stayed in the competition even after his horse stepped on his toes! All the riders competed in barrel racing and various patterns.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Remember the huge media commotion about the seven Marines in Haditha? Remember the thug John Murtha proclaiming them guilty of murder? Well, you are not hearing much these days, because they are now actually being tried in courts of law, where facts get uncovered and lies get refuted.

So doing the job the media fails to do, here are some of the facts from the Haditha cases.

Did you know that the Article 32 Hearing officer, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, stated "What the evidence points to is that the version of the Iraqis isn't really supported” during the closing of LCpl Justin Sharratt’s hearing?

Did you know that the wounds of the four “civilians” in the last house came from at least 2 feet away, which negates the claims of “execution style”?

Did you know that the witnesses who claimed the four young men were herded into a closet and shot were not even in the home during the firefight?

Did you know that the four “innocent civilians” attempted to kill the Marines with AK-47’s and were stopped only by the quick response of LCpl Sharratt and Sgt. Wuterich?

Did you know that aerial drones filmed the events that occurred on that fateful day in Haditha?

Did you know that footage from a drone shows an insurgent leaving a home carrying a child and attempting to blend in only to be discovered by the Marines due to a bloody ear?

Did you know that intelligence reports prior to November 19 2005 indicated an ambush was planned for that day and a white car would figure prominently in the attack?

Did you know that Lt. William Kallop ordered Sgt. Wuterich to “clear a group of building” south of the bomb crater after arriving on the scene in Haditha?

Did you know that the Armory Officer for Kilo Co received two AK-47s at the ambush site along with a suitcase that contained a million Iraqi dinars and Jordanian passports?

Did you know that Lt. Col Chessani has reported everything he knew about the incident o his superior officers and none called for an investigation?

Did you know that LCpl Justin Sharratt passed a polygraph exam, which was included in the NCIS report but not reported with any of the more lurid leaked information?

Did you know that the Battalion Intelligence Officer’s after action report included photographic evidence, logs of all the day’s radio transmissions and a narrative of the day’s events?

Did you know that the after-action report including a PowerPoint presentation were sent up the command ladder to all the higher officers and not one recommended further investigation?

Did you know that NCIS did no background research on any of the “civilians” killed in Haditha other than checking an insurgent database for the names?

Did you know that NCIS investigators spent approximately 1 hour interviewing the “witnesses” due to the extreme level of violence in Haditha?

Did you know that the “budding journalism student” responsible for the video at the root of the investigation was known to be part of the anti-government, anti-American Sunni insurgent sympathizers inhabiting Haditha a year prior to November 19, 2005?

Of course you didn’t know about any of the above facts. Instead, the media has focused on the Marine who testified that he urinated on the dead body of an Iraqi. They have reported the claims of photos showing powder burns without ever examining the bodies. The media would rather tell you about wounds to the head and equate them to execution style killings.

Seven Marines and their families have been subjected to poison arrows thrown by the media, blowhard politicians and the anti-war crowd. Their finances have been depleted & their lives a constant turmoil… All because of a political agenda that can only survive by plying the public with massive doses of propaganda. What did these Marines do to deserve such an injustice? They served their country in a time of war and defended their lives in a kill or be killed situation. The only thing cold-blooded and out of control in this whole Haditha incident has been the attempt to score political points by those pointing fingers at the Marines. But don’t count on any of that to be reported in the media.

Gallardia are very hardy for our hot, sunny, dry climate here in Colorado. These were growing wild in a field. I lost all my photos on my computer that crashed. Now I have to learn how to back them up.

The Educated Shoprat links to an incredible story of the depths of evil to which we adults can descend. Our brave troops in Iraq came upon a government-run orphanage in which the adults were fattening themselves, while letting the children starve. Pictures of the orphans were taken on June 10, 2007. Why has the media not covered this story? Maybe because it puts our troops in a good light, the light of heroes, which is what they are?

Monday, June 18, 2007

Tonight we went outside at about 9 p.m., and we noticed that there were five planets in a straight line. Our eyes were first attracted to the bright crescent moon. Then, we noticed there was a bright planet (Venus?) just to the north of the moon. There were two more planets just above the moon to the south, and two more to the southeast, all connected in a straight line. Cool!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Bitterroot at Friction and Harmony has a very special Father's Day post today that is not to be missed. If you go there, be prepared to immerse yourself in some powerful, gripping writing. You will be amazed at his honesty and depth of feeling.

We start by admiring the magnificent cottonwood trees!Climbing rocks is always fun!Linebacker Dude could climb anything!She seems proud of herself!This will cool you off in a hurry!The first one in pajamas gets a prize!The clematis vines are in full bloom now, welcoming us home.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

I apologize for being slow to post. My computer crashed a couple nights ago. I should have things fixed by early next week. Meanwhile, I will probably post less, but I will still check in with all the good friends that I have been privileged to meet in the blogosphere.

Today Colleen and the kids met the inspector at the new house. He found issues with the well pump and the hot water heater, as well as some cosmetic issues. His thorough report runs eight pages, accordingto our realtor, who is coming over to meet with us tonight.

But guess what cool thing we learned? A fox and her kits live in the stack of firewood that is about three acres from the house. Mama fox has kept away unwanted varmints. No mouse droppings in the barn! You know I will be seeking to photograph Mrs. Fox and share her with you.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Now Newsmax is reporting that Bill Clinton believes that "someone will fizzle" in the Democratic race, and when he or she does fizzle, Al Gore is planning to run for president. The implication is that Obama will be the one who fizzles, but that Gore would then choose him as runningmate. Personally, I find Gore more obnoxious than Hillary. I would certainly vote for Thompson, Giuliani, or Romney before any of the three aforementioned Democratic candidates.

I was listening to Dick Morris talking presidential politics today with Dennis Prager. Morris said that there will be well over thirty million single women voting in 2008, and that he expected them overwhelmingly to be Hillary voters. He also expects that Obama will be her running mate, and thet he will bring in an additional two million plus black voters. The Republicans have their work cut out for them. Morris expects Rudy Giuliani to be the Republican nominee.

I will keep America on offense in the Terrorists' War on Us. I will end illegal immigration, secure our borders, and identify every non-citizen in our nation. I will restore fiscal discipline and cut wasteful Washington spending. I will cut taxes and reform the tax code. I will impose accountability on Washington. I will lead America towards energy independence. I will give Americans more control over, and access to, healthcare with affordable and portable free-market solutions. I will increase adoptions, decrease abortions, and protect the quality of life for our children. I will reform the legal system and appoint strict constructionist judges. I will ensure that every community in America is prepared for terrorist attacks and natural disasters. I will provide access to a quality education to every child in America by giving real school choice to parents. I will expand America's involvement in the global economy and strengthen our reputation around the world.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Heather McDonald writes in City Journal about George Bush's Hispanic Delusion. There is just no evidence that a majority of Hispanics will embrace the Republican Party. In fact, the evidence is to the contrary. Did you know that third generation Mexican-American households have the highest welfare dependency? Thirty-one percent!

In truth, only a militarily strong, traditional, and capitalist United States can keep its critics, here and abroad, safe and well off enough to allow them their rage over knowing that the utopian world they prefer won’t work.

Here at home, if we keep paying out petrobribes to unsavory nations, piling up debt to China and Japan, run serial deficits, lose Iraq, and accept stalemate in Afghanistan, surge to 20 million or so illegal immigrants, and suffer another 9/11 attack, then expect the world to become a far more dangerous place, as a poorer, more isolationist America retreats inside an ever thinner, more fragile shell.

In contrast, stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan, stop the nuclearization of Iran, cut radically back on imported oil, close the southern border, and end the financial hemorrhaging, and the United States will do just fine, to the great benefit of the world at large.

But for now hold on, as the Russians get angrier, the jihadists more desperate, Mr. Ahmadinejad closer to Armaggedon, the Chinese more eager to match new power with now old money, Europe more terrified — and the United States ever more baffled by it all.

Boulder, Colorado is doing it again. Solidly Democratic Boulder is going to tell property owners how big of a house they can build on their own property! In a piece entitled "No home is too tiny for Boulder", Denver Post Columnist David Harsanyi provides the scary details here.

Did you know that tomorrow is the forty year anniversary of a Supreme Court decision striking down race-based laws that had formerly prohibited people of different races from marrying? An eighteen-year-old black woman named Mildred Jeter got pregnant by her twenty-four-year-old best friend, Richard Loving. They lived in Virginia. When she told Richard she was pregnant, they got in the car and drove to Washington, D.C., got married, and returned home to Central Point, Virginia. Authorities burst into their home at two a.m. and carted them both off to jail. The A.C.L.U. took their case to the Supreme Court (yes, in those days the A.C.L.U. actually did some good things), and won. Eight years later Richard was killed by a drunk driver. Mildred wishes he were still here with her to enjoy the day tomorrow, because, "He was my support; he was my rock."

By 2005 there were now 2.3 million interracial married mixed couples in the United States. Read more here.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Hillary Clinton has named Alcee Hastings as one of her national Campaign Co-Chairs. Do you remember Mr. Hastings? In 1988, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives took up the case, and Hastings was impeached for bribery and perjury by a vote of 413-3. Voters to impeach included Democratic Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, John Conyers and Charles Rangel. He was then convicted in 1989 by the United States Senate, becoming the sixth federal judge in the history of the United States to be removed from office by the Senate.

I found this story at the Texas Rainmaker blog, where he makes the following apropos statement: "I guess it’s only fitting that someone who’s been impeached would head up a Clinton campaign".

Jungle Mom has responded to a request that she talk about the feelings she has when she comes back to her country, the U.S.A. Her observations are here, and well worth a read. She makes some great observations about our culture.

Yes, to borrow the phrase in the above title from Ambulance Driver, it has been one of those days. For the sixth time (yes, we are counting) Linebacker Dude filled his room with shit, while we thought he was quietly taking a nap. It seems that whenver Colleen puts him down for a nap, when he knows he is being excluded from something fun because of his aggressive taking things from others attitude, he presents us with fecal surprises at the end of the quiet nap. Do go to Ambulance Driver, though, if, like us, you need a good laugh today.

Are you ready for this? The terms "marriage", "natural family", and "family values" have been found to be "hate speech" in California. The case involves the threat of termination of employment by the City of Oakland against two of its employees who used such words on an employee bulletin board. Now the case has been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court.

This interview by SPIEGAL ONLINE with African economics expert James Shikwati should make us all think twice about aid to Africa. Mr. Shikwati points out, for example, that African farmers cannot compete with highly subsidized American and European corn shipments. Same with donated clothes.

What does he advocate? Africans must solve African problems! In a continent rich in valuable resources such as oil, diamonds, and gold, Africans should become independent entreprenuers and producers. Stop the "overwhelming helpfulness". Instead of a "development" economy, Africans need to have a market economy, initiating trade amongst their own nations first. We and the Europeans must stop our "devastating urge to do good"!

Read more here about the disastrous effects of Western development policy in Africa, corrupt rulers, and the tendency to overstate the AIDS problem.Via Protein Wisdom

Saturday, June 09, 2007

The two teenagers you see in these photos have been building a "fort" down by the creek you see in one of the photos. Both are camera and publicity shy, so I had to be quick with the click. The thirteen-year-old is holding our latest addition to our family, a seven-week-old poodle named Charm.

The materials used to build the fort were mostly obtained from a big dumpster in front of a house that has been under construction nearby. Whatever got thrown away, got used to build the fort. Today was the first time I have seen the fort. It was built entirely by the two teens, ages thirteen and fifteen, with no adult supervision or guidance or input. There is one photo of the inside of the fort, and you can see the water bottles and kleenex and hammer. There are actually two forts; one has an open air roof.

The younger kids love to go to the fort, and I have no doubt they will be building a fort of their own some day. Our seven-year-old is trying his hand with an ax.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Syrian-born Los Angeles Psychiatrist Wafa Sultan does an interview, in English, for Danish TV. The interview is about 9 minutes long. She offers many interesting insights with her views of Islam and the Muslim world, and what she hopes to accomplish by speaking out.Via Chas' Compilation

These bright yellow flowers that look like snapdragons just appear amidst the prairie grasses, usually one solitary stalk at a time. And how about these bright red and white columbines? Today's rose is for all who wrote or called their Senator or Congressperson to tell them to enforce the laws and protect our borders!

Oh, No! Have you heard? At least three of the wives of Republican presidential candidates are rumored to be attractive! Some are even quite a bit younger than their husbands! Some wear dresses that show three inches of cleavage! Some are not their husband's first wife! Some hold their husband's hands, and look at them adoringly! Oh no, it's Ron and Nancy all over again!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Another thing that President Bush probably deserves praise for is his effort to combat AIDS in Africa. Liberal groups are upset that Bush funnels the money through groups that emphasize abstinence. There is a doctor in the Philippines who blogs as Boinky. Her name is Nancy Reyes, and her fine blog can be read here. I respect her views very much. She has worked in Africa. Here is what she had to say recently in a comment on another blog.

Actually, the abstinence stuff is only culture war. The dirty little secret is that some groups who push legalizing abortion and condoms and allowing teenagers to be sexually active combine these agendas with their HIV treatment. By funding them, this allows them to bully governments and church hospitals to promote their agenda, killing two birds (Promoting their political agenda and bashing the Catholics) at the same time.

Yet their approach offends the conservative Christian and Muslim Africans.

By promoting abstinence it not only allows church clinics to be active in the HIV fight, but allows society to stigmatize bad behavior, which leads to a decrease in that behavior.

In Asia, what works best is promoting morality by government and church/mosque/temple HIV programs, while letting smaller NGO's work with the outcasts of society.

As for "safe sex", condoms deteriorate in the heat and are rarely used.

I worked in Africa, and live in Asia. Has anyone noted the low HIV rate in the Philippines might be due to abstinence?

Remember when Bush said he would spend $15 billion in Africa to combat AIDS? He has actually spent over $18 billion, and today asked Congress for an additonal $30 billion over the next five years.

Remember Bill Clinton, our "first Black President?" What did he do about AIDS in Africa?

Update: Oh,Oh! Since I realized I had not been to Dr.Reyes' blog recently, I paid her a visit and read an essay she wrote yesterday. In it she points out that America has been providing Egypt with air-conditioned tanks. Why? So the next time they attack Israel they will be successful?

President Bush gave a good speech in Prague. That's the Bush I voted for, not the guy who is getting bamboozled by Teddy Kennedy on illegal immigration. As usual, Gateway Pundit has excellent coverage of the Prague speech here.

I have been thinking about my sons' education. Who was it that said, "Don't let schooling interfere with your child's education?" Toward the last third of the school year, both my sons grew frustrated with the daily school grind. I think next year I am going to negotiate with them at the beginning of each day to get them to commit to work on school stuff from hour A to hour B, then allow them to proceed with their hands-on education (even if both hands contain dead crawdads) for the rest of the hours of each day. I am such a stickler that they learn the basics, but I probably do have some room to relax and enjoy my sons more.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama has posted twenty horrendous loopholes in the immigration bill being considered this week in the Senate. Let him know you appreciate his courage in standing up for America.Via Ace of Spades

Golden, Colorado is really beautiful this time of year. Guess which photo made me think of Robin Starfish? Clear Creek, famous from the gold rush years, roars and rolls right through the middle of Golden. This kayaker told me that he lives up in the mountains and doesn't know anyone who has email, so I couldn't send him a blurry (because I used the zoom feature?) photo of him fighting the rapids.

About Me

"Even in brutality and sorrow, beauty often shines brightest in the soul brave enough to deny evil a foothold. It is the theme of redemption, the symphony of resurrection."
The above is from a blogger named Jewel.